It’s June, and everything is green. We’re into the growing season, and so everywhere you look you see signs of green growth. And speaking of growth, with today being Father’s Day, I can’t help but to reflect on how my three sons have grown so quickly over the years.
A couple of weeks ago, my twin boys graduated from high school. And as I was sitting there watching them cross the stage receiving their diplomas, I began having flashbacks about all the things that they’ve done in school, activities, sports, our family vacations; and how these kids have completely changed my life for the better. It was all passing through my mind like a dream scene in a movie. Now as they prepare to enter college, I think about how they will continue to bloom and grow.
Today’s Gospel from Mark, appropriately enough, is about growth and of God’s love and care for his children. First, let’s look at Jesus’ parable of a seed being sown and producing growth. This was a common theme in his teachings. Everyone understands the phenomenon of things growing. Well, I say we all “understand” it, but maybe I should have said that everybody has “seen” the growth of a big, beautiful plant coming from the sowing of a small, insignificant seeds. I don’t know if anyone fully understands how that miracle takes place. And that’s one of the points Jesus is making with his parable about the mysterious, surprising power of the seed to grow.
God’s kingdom can grow in the very same way, from a tiny seed. And it can spread quickly through all areas and relationships in our lives, if we let it.
A renowned scientist once said that one flap of a seagull’s wings could change the course of the earth’s climate forever. The Kingdom of God has a similar power.
The effect of the kingdom at work in our our lives will never be measured in dollars or popularity. We may never know the good we’ve done with simple acts of kindness and love. Remember, the seed of the kingdom is the mustard seed: the tiniest words and the little actions we take every day. All these things sows seeds. With a simple flap of our spiritual wings, we may change the divine dimension of our world forever. We are called not to be the biggest or the most important, but to be the greatest servants of God and others.
God also reminds us that we are his children. Today, we celebrate how fathers are called in a special way to reflect God’s unconditional love and forgiveness. Just like God, a father guides, comforts, protects, disciplines, corrects us when we sin buy always picks us up when we fall, and loves us beyond what we can imagine. And like the farmer in the Gospel, relentlessly scattering his seeds night and day, God our Father will never give up on us. He will always be there to watch us bloom.
It is June, and everything is growing. Jesus invites us to allow the kingdom of God to blossom and live in our hearts – to scatter and plant the seeds of the kingdom, and then watch the blessings grow!
Happy Father’s Day!
